The year 1999 was dominated by U.S. and British air raids on Iraqi missile bases and other military targets. The low-intensity air raids, which occurred almost daily, were undertaken because Iraq persisted in contesting the legality of “no-fly” zones imposed on northern and southern parts of the country by firing at planes patrolling these zones. The raids began after Richard Butler, head of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM), reported to the UN Security Council in early December 1998 that Iraq was continuing to obstruct UN inspections designed to eliminate the country’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and Iraq’s means to produce those weapons. UNSCOM observers were subsequently withdrawn from Iraq, after which four nights of intense air strikes were conducted by U.S. and British war planes on December 16–19.

Throughout 1999 the five permanent members of the Security Council remained divided on the kinds of policies that should be adopted in order to sanction Iraq. Russia, China, and France were in favour of lifting the economic embargo imposed on Iraq, either fully and immediately (Russia and China) or partially and gradually (France). The U.S. and the U.K. insisted on full Iraqi compliance with UN resolutions and the readmission of UN weapons inspectors before any lifting of sanctions. While the five permanent members continued their deliberations, the sanctions issue was complicated by Iraq’s declaration that it had already complied with UN resolutions on WMD and would not accept any UN-sponsored inspection system.

Domestically, 1999 was a turbulent year for Iraq as well, with a number of reported acts of violence. Chief among these was the mysterious assassination on February 19 of the Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq as-Sadr, the highest ranking Shiʿite cleric in the country. His two sons, Mustafa and Muaʿmal, were killed along with him. Although no one immediately claimed responsibility for his death, many Iraqis believed that the government was involved. Sadr had been increasingly critical of government policies, and his assassination was followed by incidents of unrest among the Shiʿite population in southern Iraq and parts of Baghdad itself. The government later executed four men for Sadr’s murder.

Iraqi relations with Syria saw a measured improvement during the year. Diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Damascus had been broken during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–90), during which Syria sided with Iran. In March 1999, however, Iraq and Syria agreed to establish diplomatic “interest sections” in each other’s capitals. Meanwhile, commercial (especially truck) traffic between the two countries increased substantially. There was a corresponding decrease in road traffic from Turkey transiting northern Iraq.

By contrast, Iraq’s relations with Iran took a turn for the worse. The two countries continued to accuse each other of holding prisoners of war and of harbouring opposition groups hostile to their regimes. In June the Mujahedin-e-Khalq, an Iranian opposition group with bases in Iraq, was the target of several incidents, one involving a car bomb and another an attack by Iranian missiles. In July Saddam Hussein threatened Iran with another war if Iranian “provocations” did not stop.

Iraq’s economic situation under international sanctions improved marginally during 1999, but inflation continued to rise and prices of most goods, including food, remained beyond the means of the general population. Iraqis depended on government rations for sustenance. On October 3 the Security Council unanimously approved a one-time increase in Iraqi oil sales under the UN-Iraq “oil for food” agreement, allowing Iraq to export nearly $8.3 billion of oil for six months in exchange for food, medicine, and other necessities of life; the $8.3 billion figure was an increase from the normal six-month limit of about $5.3 billion of oil imposed by the agreement. In December the “oil for food” agreement was extended for an additional six months.

Iraq experienced a serious drought during the year, caused in part by the lowest rainfall in 50 years and in part by a substantial reduction in the water levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers because of dams built at their headwaters in Turkey. The drought devastated Iraq’s already weak agricultural sector, particularly in the northwestern region. The drought caused a massive migration of farmers and livestock, including millions of sheep and goats, into the Kurdish-controlled northern mountains. UN organizations operating in northern Iraq dug hundreds of new wells to increase the water supply.

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